Saturday, January 20

Drinking for three

A cowgirl from Texarkana walks into a bar and orders three mugs of Budweiser. She sits in the back of the room, drinking a sip out of each one in turn. When she finishes them, she comes back to the bar and orders three more. Noting this, the bartender mentions that a mug of beer starts to go flat as soon as it is drawn: "It would taste better if you bought one at a time." [insert compulsory Budweiser joke here < g >]

The cowgirl replies, "Well, you see, I have two sisters -- one in Australia and one in Dublin. When we all left our home in Oklahoma we promised that we would drink this way to remember the days when we drank together. So I am drinking one beer for each of my sisters, and one for myself."

The bartender admits this is a nice custom, and leaves it at that.

The cowgirl becomes a regular in the bar, and always drinks the same way: ordering three mugs of beer, and sipping from each one in its turn. But one day she comes in and only orders two mugs. All the regulars notice, and fall silent. When she comes back to the bar for the second round, the bartender says, "I don't want to intrude on your grief, but I wanted to offer my condolences on your loss."

The cowgirl looks puzzled for a moment. Then a light dawns in her eyes and she laughs. "Oh, no, everybody is fine," she explains. "It is just that my husband and I joined the Baptist Church, and I had to quit drinking."